


Canary In A Coal Mine

by Botanophillic_Zombie



Series: Desert Anecdotes [3]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Gen, I woke up to hell this morning so I decided to write about it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:49:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26362936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Botanophillic_Zombie/pseuds/Botanophillic_Zombie
Summary: “But I still hold out hope that maybe someday, I’ll be worth more than all the silence left in my wake.”-Canary In A Coal Mine, The Crane WivesShe’s getting worse and worse every year
Relationships: Arizona & California (Hetalia), California&Arizona(hetalia)
Series: Desert Anecdotes [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1915645
Kudos: 1





	Canary In A Coal Mine

Ash rains down from the sky, and you cough it up out of your lungs. 

I give you a worried look, and do not rub your back. I know of the blistering flame that consumes the flesh you own from shoulder to hip- so horrid that the only thing you can stand to touch it are the endless layers of bandages, sopping wet with thick medecine.

You smile at me all the same, reassuringly. 

It’s alright sister, i’m going to be just fine. It says. Don't worry. 

I try not to frown too much as I look away. 

Just a simple walk. That’s all we are doing today. But  _ god _ is it hard to concentrate when signs of the end of our lives rage around us. Blatantly staring down at us, jeering. Feeding on our despair, their bellies growing round and fat. 

I look down at my own body, still lush and rolling, despite the hunger that roars within. I put a hand over where my stomach would be, gently thinking comfort to it. Almost there. 

You suddenly sling your arm over my shoulder, leaning all of your weight on me and wheezing. I grab your hand and stay steady, looking up at the orange sky to the east. The sun shines a blood red ball, bastardized version of it’s loving gaze struggling to see us through the warring clouds.

I wait patiently for you to breathe easy again, offering my other arm for you to lean on. Your grip is a vice, and though I would never- _could_ never mind, my arm still seizes in surprise.

There is ash on your hair. Most likely in mine as well. It peppers the cars, clinging to black windows. 

You stand up again and begin to stammer an apology, but I've already shushed you in favor of lighty sweeping the flakes of desolation off you. 

The shape of your smile is different than it was about a season ago. 

A season ago, the air was clean and trees were blooming, lush with blossoms and bees. Flowers poked from the cracks in the sidewalk. Green grass filled every spot that even  _ looked  _ like it had dirt. 

You were so happy then, beautiful and dancing, your pretty blue skirt twirling around you as the rain fell and the sun shone it’s rays at the  _ perfect angle  _ to make that shimmering arc of color. 

Now you begin to walk again, just as you always have, but every year is harder. Fire season is not a natural occurrence. It consumes more and more of you, devouring until you’re short of stolen breath and weak with raging fever. 

You smile at me and point to the place you wanted to go. 

I smile back and wonder when the world became a coal mine, and you it’s token canary.

**Author's Note:**

> “But if in the end I lose my voice,  
> Will you forget about your love for me?”  
> -Canary In A Coal Mine, The Crane Wives. 
> 
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
